Major Cryptocurrencies Building Brand Recognition

Despite their recent setbacks at the exchanges, cryptocurrencies have been doing relatively well in real world applications. Business organizations have expressed wide interest in working together with major Blockchain platforms.

The four major components of the Blockchain, speed, accessibility, transparency and security make it significantly better than traditional networks and databases. This is why many major businesses have signed mutually beneficial partnerships with crypto platforms to improve their business performance.

In this piece, we review the collaborations that some of the cryptocurrencies have with major brands from around the world.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin launched in 2009 as the first blockchain based crypto coin. It is currently the biggest cryptocurrency with market capitalization of more than $140 billion. Fluctuations in Bitcoin price affect the whole cryptocurrency market. Prices for major alt coins tend to rise and fall with the price of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin was first adopted by the mainstream retailer Overstock in 2014 when they test-launched payments in Bitcoin at some of their designated stores.

Major brands that have adopted Bitcoin include Microsoft which started accepting Bitcoin payments for content on their online stores. The DISH Network also started accepting payments in Bitcoin for subscription to their service. Paypal is another company that allows people to get credit in exchange for Bitcoin.

Ethereum

Ethereum can arguable be considered the second major alt coin after Bitcoin. Unlike Bitcoin, this currency is actively supported by the Ethereum Corp which routinely implements new upgrades to their platform.

The cryptocurrency is supported by the Ethereum Alliance, a network of major businesses that has more than 200 organizations in its network. The Ethereum Corp is engaged in creating additional layers and customized smart contracts for their client businesses.

Major brands such as Intel, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Credit Suisse, UBS, BP and Reuters are part of the Ethereum Alliance, among others.

Smart contracts are what really make Ethereum distinct from other major Blockchain networks. These are customizable protocols which make the platform faster and facilitate the negotiation and automation of contracts. They have a huge potential in lending business practice.

Stellar

Stellar is relatively new in the cryptocurrency markets. The currency has become firmly established as the cryptocurrency of choice in South East Asia. This alt coin made an impact last year when it announced partnerships with IBM and KlickEx, a currency exchange service operating in the region.

IBMs annual trade with foreign clients, in the South Pacific and Oceania, is more than billions of dollars.. Stellar has designed its Blockchain to proof check payments to IBM in seconds. This improves the efficiency in the payment system for the global corporation.

The developers behind Stellar have also announced that they are working with Deloitte to develop custom-built mobile applications and a digital banking platform for businesses in the region.

Ripple

Ripple is another newcomer than has stirred a lot of buzz and excitement in the markets. Its platform provides an exceptionally fast transaction speed for information transfer around the world.

The currency has generated much interest in the money transfer businesses. Major brands, such as American Express and Santander have confirmed that they are looking to use Ripple Blockchain for their international money transfer payments.

A pilot project is already underway to test American Express users who sent payments over AmEx’s international payment network to U.K. Santander’s account holders.

Moneygram International is also looking to partner with Ripple where the platform will be used to send money from one country to another that would take less than a few seconds.